The
Fuente Magnabowl was
found accidentally by a worker from the CHUA Hacienda, property of the Manjon
family located near Lake Titicaca about 75-80 km from the city of La Paz,
Bolivia (see Photo). The site where
it was found had not been studied for artifacts previously. The Fuente Magna
is beautifully engraved in earthen-brown both inside and out and bears
zoological motifs and anthropomorphic characters within (Please seeBernardo
Biados for further detail).

The Bolivian archeologist, don Max
Portugal-Zamora, learned of the Fuente Magna’s existence around 1958-1960
from his friend Pastor Manjon. Both gave the site the name it bears today,
"Fuente Magna" (see Spanish
account)

A
controversy arose about the cuneiform script on the Fuente Magna. Dr. Alberto
Marini, translated it and reported that it was Sumerian..After a careful examination of the Fuente
Magna, linear script Dr. Clyde A. Winters determined that it was probably
Proto-Sumerian, which is found on many artifacts fromin Mesopotamia. An identical script was
used by the Elamites called Proto-Elamite.

Dr.
Winters believed that researchers had been unable to read the writing because
they refused to compare Proto-Elamite and Proto-Sumerian writing with other
writing systems used in 3000-2000 BC. He compared the writing to the
Libyco-Berber writing used in the Sahara 5000 years ago. This writing was
used by the Proto-Dravidians (of the Indus Valley), Proto-Mande ,
Proto-Elamites and Proto-Sumerians.

These
people formerly lived in Middle Africa, until the extensive desertification
of the Sahara began after 3500 BC. A Mr. Rawlinson, was sure that the
Sumerians had formerly lived in Africa, and he used Semitic and African
languages spoken in Ethiopia to decipher the cuneiform writing. Rawlins
called the early dwellers of Mesopotamia: Kushites, because he believed that
the ancestors of these people were the Western Kushites of Classical
literature.

Winters
noted that the Libyco-Berber script couldn’t be read using the Berber
language, because the Berbers only entered Africa around the time the Vandals
conquered much of North Africa. Although the Libyco-Berber script cannot be
read using the Berber language, it can be read using the Mande language. This
is because the Proto-Mande formerly lived in Libya, until they migrated from
this area into the Niger valley of West Africa.

The Vai
script has signs similar to the Libyco-Berber, Indus valley, Linear A of
Crete, Proto-Elamite and Proto-Sumerian signs. The Vai people spoke a Mande
language.

Using
the phonetic values of the Vai script, Dr. Winters has been able to decipher
the Indus Valley and Linear A writing.The Sumerian language is closely related to the Dravidian and Mande
languages, and the Proto-Sumerian , Libyco-Berber and Vai scripts are
similar.Thus, it is possible to read
the script on the Fuente Magna by using the phonetic values of the Vai
script. Once Winters had transliterated the Fuente Magna signs, he was able
to translate the inscription using the Sumerian language.

By comparing the Fuente Magna scripts and
symbols with the Vai writing, Winters found many matches. Then after
referring to several published works on the Sumerian language and writing
system, e.g., C.S. Ball, Chinese andSumerian (London, 1913),
and John A. Halloran, Sumerian Lexicon, ( http://www.sumerian.org/sumer/ex.htm ), he was able to decipher the Fuente Magna writing.

He found
that the Fuente Magna inscriptions are in the Proto-Sumerian script, and the
symbols have several Proto-Sumerian signs joined together to represent words
and sentences.He presented two
figures that separate the Fuente Magna signs into their constituent parts so
they could be interpreted using the phonetic values of the Vai writing he
showed the separation of the Fuente Magna signs into their separate parts.

Following
is a transliteration of the inscriptions on the right side of the Fuente Magna, reading from top to bottom and
right to left.

1.Pa ge gi

2.Mi lu du

3.I mi ki

4.me su du

5.Nia po

6.Pa

7.Mash

8.Nia mi

9.Du lu gi

10 . Ka me lu

11 . Zi

12 . Nan na pa-I

Winters then gave the following
translation:

"(1)
Girls take an oath to act justly (this) place. (2) (This is) a favorable oracle of the people. (3) Send forth a just divine decree. (4) The charm (the Fuente Magna) (is) full of Good. (5) The (Goddess) Nia is pure. (6) Take an oath (to her). (7) The Diviner. (8)
The divine decree of Nia (is) , (9)
to surround the people with Goodness/Gladness. (10) Value the people's oracle. (11) The soul (to), (12) appear as a witness to the [Good that comes from
faith in the Goddess Nia before] all mankind."

Then the transliteration of the
inscriptions on the left side
of the Fuente Magna is as follows: .

" (1)
Make a libation (this) place for water (seminal fluid?) and seek virtue. (2a) (This is) a great amulet/charm, (2b) (this) place of the people is a phenomenal area of
the deity [Nia's] power. (3)
The soul (or breath of life). (4)
Much incense, (5) to justly,
(6) make the
pure libation. (7) Capture the
pure libation (/or Appear (here) as a witness to the pure libation). (8) Divine good in this phenomenal proximity of the
deity's power."

This
decipherment of the inscriptions on the Fuente Magna indicates that it was
used to make libations to the Goddess Nia to request fertility, and to offer
thanks to the bountiful fauna and flora in the area that made it possible for
these Sumerian explorers to support themselves in Bolivia.

Of
particular interest is that the people of the Fuente Magna, referred to the
Goddess as Nia. Nia, is the Linear-A term for Neith. Neith is the Greek name
for the Egyptian Goddess Nt or Neit, Semitic Anat. This goddess was very
popular among the ancient people of Libya and other parts of Middle Africa,
before these people left the region to settle Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley
and Minoan Crete.

Dr.
Winters noted that his translation of the Fuente Magna inscriptions supports
the hypothesis of Awen Dawn that the Fuente was used in celebration of the
Goddess religion of the ancient people of Bolivia. Awen Dawn recognized that
the figure on the Fuente Magna was in a Goddess pose, with open arms and legs
spread, which supports Winters’ translation..In addition, the identification of symbols on the bowl by Awen
that relate to European signs for the Mother Goddess, probably reflects the early
influence of the Goddess Neith on the mainland of Greece and Crete.

It is
believed that the Fuente Magna was probably crafted by Sumerian people who
settled in Bolivia sometime after 2500 BC. The Sumerians used seaworthy ships
that were known to sail to the distant Indian Subcontinent.Some Sumerian ships most likely made their
way around South Africa and entered one of the currents in the area that lead
from Africa across the Atlantic to South America and thence to the Pacific
Ocean.They would have then searched
for areas on the high plateau of Bolivia where food was being produced by the
local inhabitants.They held the bowl
in high esteem and were fastidious about its transport around the area (see Transportaciόn) It should be noted that
there was one challenge to the authenticity of the Fuente Magna by skeptics
who suggested that it was a fabrication by archeologists to gain
international attention.The
overwhelming support from the major portion of the academic community should
discredit this criticism, as it has in times past when challenges arose to
the existence of any writing at all in the Americas (e.g., that of the Olmec
and Maya).